


No Strings Attached

by annewritesstuff



Series: The Adventures of the Tree Friends [1]
Category: VAST (Geek & Sundry)
Genre: Episode Tag, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 11:44:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8843431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annewritesstuff/pseuds/annewritesstuff
Summary: After a month of spending time at home, Tkaah learns the meaning of friendship from Noble Defender.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that most of this short story is built on a foundation of personal head canon and should not be considered canon unless those who have the power to do so make it canon. The entire VAST universe was created by Jackson Lanzing and his Crew of 7. Visionary Destroyer belongs to Max Isaacson, Noble Defender belongs to Dylan DoVale and Tkaah belongs to Jody Houser. This was written for the express purpose of offloading my brain of my personal head canon and no profit will made henceforth.

“Welcome back, Tkaah…”

The unmistakable voice of Noble Defender came from behind her as she settled down in her living quarters but Tkaah made no move to face him and did not respond to his greeting. 

“After what happened a month ago, I didn’t think you’d come back,” his voice continued on after a moment’s pause.

“I didn’t think I would come back either,” she admitted in her usual deadpan manner as she continued to settle into her quarters.

“Well, I’m glad you did.”

As Noble Defender entered her peripheral vision, Tkaah suddenly felt that her personal space was being invaded. “Why are you here, Noble Defender?” she asked with an edge to her voice as she turned to face her visitor, her limbs swinging in every direction, causing Noble Defender to abruptly stop his approach.

The Terran helmsman pointed out, “Don’t be like that...You know I’ve always had your back.”

Tkaah’s posture remained tense but she went to survey the room, trying to pretend as though it felt like business as usual for her. “If you’re insisting on sticking around, at least help me set things up a little.”

Noble Defender took some time to take in his surroundings as he helped Tkaah shift things around to attempt to help her feel at home.

“It’s not the same,” her flat tone of voice broke the silence after a few moments.

Noble Defender wasn’t about to try to convince Tkaah of the merits of his brother’s attempts to help the Tactical Officer adjust to her new circumstances - he knew better than to sell Visionary Destroyer as an empathic leader. 

“I know,” the Terran finally acknowledged after waiting a beat, “But maybe having a friend around might help.”

Tkaah felt at a loss for words; it was the first time she had been extended an offer of friendship and she wasn’t quite sure what to do. “And how do you suppose it would help?” she asked quietly, “You are nothing like home. This ship is nothing like home. Space is nothing like home. I’m here because of some misguided loyalty to your brother. I was already home; I could have just stayed down there and helped with the rebuilding.”

“And get hunted down by my brother? It’s probably for the best that you didn’t do that.”

Tkaah glared over her shoulder at Noble Defender, who managed to find his way up one of the trees Visionary Destroyer had provided to make the room feel more like home for her.

“I know it’s a tough time for you, it’s been rough for me too,” Noble Defender commented, “We're both out of place and I thought maybe we could spend time not belonging together, that's all.”

Empathy did not come naturally to Tkaah but she recognized how it almost seemed to radiate from Noble Defender. Even from across the room, she could feel it. She couldn't understand why a Terran would care about a Limb. Was this what friendship was like? She would have to contemplate this at a later time; the subject was making her feel a little uncomfortable

“Are you enjoying it up there?” she asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Perched on a branch of one of the tallest trees in the room, Noble Defender was nodding approvingly at his view of the entire room. “I love it here!” he exclaimed, “Sure beats the box I live in.”

“So why don’t you push for a bigger box?” Tkaah asked as she positioned herself to sit under the tree next to Noble Defender’s, looking up at him.

“I did...” he told her as he shifted, feeling uncomfortable with the question.

His voice trailing off, Noble Defender went silent. Trying to understand why, Tkaah observed him as she tried to Listen to get a read on him but she still couldn’t understand what was going on with him. 

“I asked for the bigger box...for you,” he finally said after what seemed like an eternity of silence that was really only about half a minute.

“Really...you shouldn’t have.” Tkaah was definitely uncomfortable again; she wasn’t used to people being nice to her, being of a vassal race.

“You are a valuable member of the Bridge Crew and I wanted you to know that if you decided to come back, there would always be someone who have your back.”

“Uh...thank you, Noble Defender,” Tkaah replied as she continued to watch him, “I don’t know if I could ever repay your kindness...”

“You know, the thing about friendship is that you don’t have to,” Noble Defender pointed out casually, “Friends just look out for each other like that, no strings attached.”

Tkaah nodded to acknowledge the statement as she formulated her response in her mind. “Well...if you ever needed room to stretch your legs, I suppose you could come in here and hang out in a tree. I don’t think they’d mind,” she told him carefully.

“I’d like that.” A smile escaped Noble Defender’s lips as he watched Tkaah enter a meditative state.


End file.
